A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language

Dancing Hands: A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language

by Joanna Que

Read the world to change the world! This artful picture book about friendship and sign language, originally published in the Philippines in concert with nonprofit Room to Read, is beautifully revised for this global edition. 

Our new neighbors’ hands are dancing. Their hands move as if to music. What are they saying to each other?

Sam’s new neighbors’ hands make graceful movements she doesn’t recognize, and she wonders what they are saying. Soon she meets her new neighbor, Mai, who teaches Sam some Filipino Sign Language. Along the way, they both discover the joys of making a new friend, a best friend.

This sweet and perceptive picture book by authors Joanna Que and Charina Marquez tells the story of two girls as they learn to communicate with each other. With playful illustrations that celebrate the beautiful movements of sign language, back matter discussing sign languages around the world, and endpapers teaching all the signs used in the book, Dancing Hands conveys the shy and fumbling experience of making friends and overcoming language barriers.

SIGN LANGUAGE IN A STORY: One of the only children's books about sign language that is not centered on instruction, this beautifully illustrated friendship story is the perfect way to introduce kids to topics around deafness, hearing or speech impairment, and global sign languages.

PROMOTES EMPATHY: As readers follow Mai and Sam's blossoming friendship, they will be encouraged to be open to new experiences. This thoughtful book emphasizes the importance of trying to understand each person we encounter and the beautiful connections we can form when we overcome perceived barriers.

EDUCATIONAL EXTRAS: The book includes additional content that speaks to the history of Filipino and American sign languages, as well as sign languages around the world.

CHARITABLE SUPPORT WITH EVERY PURCHASE: Buying this book benefits children in Room to Read’s global Literacy Program. Room to Read has supported publishing training and opportunities for children’s book creators from around the world since 2003. The Read the World, Change the World partnership with Chronicle Books brings these international voices to English language readers. Learn more at www.roomtoread.org.

Genres:
Picture Book

A Day With No Words

by Tiffany Hammond 

The American Library Association Booklist starred review boasts, “The story is written from the boy's first-person perspective, however—a clever choice in that it gives readers a direct look into his mind and reinforces the book's crucial statement that nonverbal people have as many words and as much intelligence as anyone else. Cosgrove's art, throughout, does an amazing job of transporting readers into his perspective, employing various color tones, metaphoric imagery, and ‘camera’ angles to reflect the deep expressiveness contained in every page [...] through this book, neurotypicals' eyes will be opened, and everyone in Autistic Families will feel seen—and heard.”

Genres:
Picture Book

Tags:
Autism, Disabilities, Disability representation

Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes

Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes

by Patty Cisneros Prevo

Meet fifteen remarkable athletes who use adaptive equipment in this beautiful and truth-telling picture book.

A downhill skier whose blindness has sharpened her communication skills. An adaptive surfer who shreds waves while sitting down. A young man who excels at wheelchair motocross--but struggles with math. Tenacious tells their stories and more, revealing the daily joys and challenges of life as an athlete with disabilities.

These competitors have won gold medals, set world records, climbed mountain peaks, claimed national championships, and many more extraordinary achievements. Get to know them in Tenacious!

Tags:
Deaf, Disabilities, Disability representation, Hard of hearing

Hello, Universe

by Erin Entrada Kelly 

Told from four intertwining points of view--two boys and two girls--the novel celebrates bravery, being different, and finding your inner bayani (hero).

In one day, four lives weave together in unexpected ways. Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels out of place in his crazy-about-sports family. Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and secretly lonely, and she loves everything about nature. Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose little sister, Gen, is always following her around. And Chet Bullens wishes the weird kids would just stop being so different so he can concentrate on basketball.

They aren't friends, at least not until Chet pulls a prank that traps Virgil and his pet guinea pig at the bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen, and Valencia on an epic quest to find missing Virgil. Through luck, smarts, bravery, and a little help from the universe, a rescue is performed, a bully is put in his place, and friendship blooms.

Genres:
Middle Grade

She Persisted: Bethany Hamilton 

by Maryann Cocca-Leffler 

Bethany Hamilton learned to surf when she was three years old, and she joined—and won—many surfing competitions as a child. When she was thirteen, while she was surfing one morning, a shark suddenly attacked her and bit off her left arm. Through hard work, courage, and faith, Bethany persisted and went on to reach her dream of becoming a professional surfer. Along the way, she used her experience to provide inspiration and comfort to surfers and non-surfers alike.

In this chapter book biography by award-winning author Maryann Cocca-Leffler, readers learn about the amazing life of Bethany Hamilton--and how she persisted.

Complete with an introduction from Chelsea Clinton, black-and-white illustrations throughout, and a list of ways that readers can follow in Bethany Hamilton's footsteps and make a difference! A perfect choice for kids who love learning and teachers who want to bring inspiring women into their curriculum.

And don’t miss out on the rest of the books in the She Persisted series, featuring so many more women who persisted, including Harriet Tubman, Marian Anderson, Oprah Winfrey, Ruby Bridges, and more!

Genres:
Biographies, Chapter Book, Memoir

Tags:
Amputee, Disabilities, Disability representation, Limb difference

Ada and the Helpers

by Travis D. Peterson

"Be bold! Be brave! Let you be you... and let's help others, too!"

That's Ada's motto.

Ada is a dancing, deaf fox with cochlear implants who loves to help others. On her way to dance in a talent show one day, she meets three other creatures who are each facing a physical challenge of their own. She decides to help each of her new friends to see past their challenges and discover their natural, God-given strengths. But can they help her in return? Ada's a bit nervous about the talent show!

Will she be able to hear the music clearly?

Will everyone laugh at her?

Pick up a copy of Ada and the Helpers today and follow Ada and her new friends on an exciting new adventure that inspires friendship, helping others, inclusion, and finding your strengths. Plus, your child can learn the ASL alphabet at the same time! The rhyming nature of the story is welcoming for hearing kids, but is especially helpful for young children who are hard-of-hearing.

As an adult, you'll love the surprise ending that brings all the nostalgic feels for your inner 80's child!

Genres:
Picture Book

Mighty Mara

by Carina Ho 

A young girl aspires to dance despite her disability.

Welcome to Sametown where everyone and everything is...well...the same. Except Mara! She's a little different. She’ bright. She’s sunny. And, unlike her classmates who are all planning on performing a similar magic show act at the school talent show, she is going to dance, dance, dance! One problem: everyone in Sametown – her classmates, her teacher—they all think she shouldn’t do it. And it’s not just (it seems) because dancing isn’t the status quo in Sametown...It’s because they just don’t believe in Mara. Mara won't let their dissuading and even their heckling rock her spirit, though. She’s Mighty Mara, and she’s about to shake she some new life into her muted town. In the most surprising and beautiful of ways.

Genres:
Picture Book

How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion

by Shannon Stocker 

"No. You can't," people said.
But Evelyn knew she could. She had found her own way to listen.

From the moment Evelyn Glennie heard her first note, music held her heart. She played the piano by ear at age eight, and the clarinet by age ten. But soon, the nerves in her ears began to deteriorate, and Evelyn was told that, as a deaf girl, she could never be a musician. What sounds Evelyn couldn’thear with her ears, though, she could feel resonate through her body as if she, herself, were a drum. And the music she created was extraordinary. Evelyn Glennie had learned how to listen in a new way. And soon, the world was listening too.

Genres:
Biographies, Picture Book

Tags:
Deaf, Disabilities, Disability representation, Hard of hearing

A Memoir

Work with What You Got: A Memoir 

by Zion Clark (Author), James S. Hirsch (Author)

Elite wheelchair racer and wrestler Zion Clark joins with New York Times best-selling author James S. Hirsch for a stunning memoir—recounting childhood adversity, awe-inspiring perseverance, and self-invention.

When a baby named Zion was born in 1997 to an imprisoned, drug-addicted mother, his future seemed bleak. Born without legs due to a rare condition called caudal regression syndrome, Zion was abandoned and shunted to a foster-care system ill-equipped to care for him. In this stirring memoir, readers will follow as he is bounced from home to home, subjected to abuse, neglect, and inconceivable hardship. Somehow, Zion finds supportive angels along the way: his first two foster families, who offer a haven; the wrestling coach who senses his “warrior spirit” and nurtures it; the woman of fierce faith who adopts a seventeen-year-old and cheers his every match. From play-by-play narration of how Zion adapts wrestling moves to defeat able-bodied opponents, wielding phenomenal arm and hand strength, to accounts of his extraordinary work ethic, unflagging optimism, and motivational speaking, this is an inspirational story of courage that will appeal to any athlete who respects determination, any young person facing adversity, and any reader who wants to believe in the human spirit.

Genres:
Memoir, Middle Grade

The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann

All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything 

by Maryann Cocca-Leffler 

A picture book biography celebrating the life and work of disability rights activist and icon Judith Heumann, highlighting one of her landmark achievements—leading the historic 504 Sit-in in 1977

From a very young age, Judy Heumann heard the word NO. When she wanted to attend public school, the principal said, "NO." When she wanted her teaching license, the New York Board of Education said, "NO." Judy and people with disabilities everywhere were tired of hearing “NO.”

In the 1970s an important disability rights law, Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was waiting to be signed. Judy and other disability rights activists fought for “YES!” They held a sit-in until Section 504 was signed into law. Section 504 laid the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was established thanks in large part to the ongoing work of Judy and her community.

Along with a personal reflection from Judy herself, this picture book biography captures the impact and influence of one of America’s greatest living activists.

Genres:
Non-Fiction, Our Favorites, Picture Book